Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) Upgraded at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Northeast Community Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Northeast Community Bancorp Stock Up 0.6%

NECB stock opened at $24.36 on Tuesday. Northeast Community Bancorp has a one year low of $19.27 and a one year high of $25.18. The firm has a market cap of $336.90 million, a PE ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ:NECB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $26.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.15 million. Northeast Community Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 28.07%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northeast Community Bancorp will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Northeast Community Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Northeast Community Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.54%.

Northeast Community Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.40 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the savings and loans company to repurchase up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Northeast Community Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Northeast Community Bancorp by 261.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 162,916 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 117,888 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $1,857,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $1,779,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $870,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Northeast Community Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $790,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.25% of the company’s stock.

Northeast Community Bancorp Company Profile

Northeast Community Bancorp is the bank holding company for Northeast Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in DeKalb, Illinois. Through its principal subsidiary, the company provides a range of deposit and lending products designed to meet the financial needs of individuals, families and small to mid-sized businesses in the northern Illinois market.

The company’s loan portfolio encompasses consumer and mortgage lending, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, SBA-guaranteed loans and agricultural credits.